He’s been on the job for less than a year, but Superintendent of Washington County Schools Robert Stafford has announced that he is resigning from his position.

“I just want to spend some time with my family and my children,” Stafford told the school board and guests at Thursday night’s meeting. He officially tendered his resignation on Tuesday of last week. “It’s going to be five or 10 years down the road, and time with them is what’s most important to me, so I’m going to spend more time with them.”

The price of eating a school lunch, like many other things in today’s economy, is going up.

The Washington County School Board voted to increase school lunch prices by 15 cents per meal for the 2009-10 school year.

Kevin Ellery, director of food services for the school district, presented the board members with two proposals at Thursday’s board meeting, one for a 10-cent increase, and the other for a 15-cent increase. Ellery recommended the 10-cent increase, but the 15-cent route was favored by board member Pat Clements.

The Washington County Relay for Life committee has more than 50,000 reasons to thank everyone who supported Relay this year – 54,492 reasons to be exact. That’s how many dollars were raised during the all-night event held this past weekend at St. Catharine College.

The 2009 Washington County Relay for Life will start at 7 p.m. June 12 at St. Catharine College with the opening ceremony. Immediately following will be the survivors ceremony, the team lap and then the caregivers lap.

The luminaria ceremony will take place at 10 p.m. The event wraps up Saturday morning with an awards ceremony at 6:45 a.m. and the closing ceremony at 7 a.m.

Everyone who battles cancer has his or her own personal, unique experience. Some have long fights involving chemotherapy, while others come out of it with little or no trauma. Janice Bartley of Springfield considers herself one of the lucky ones.

He served more than 62 years as a member of the Springfield Rotary Club, and that dedication, along with his involvement in so many community and club projects earned Tom Duncan Reed the nickname of “Mr. Rotary.”

Mr. Reed, a Springfield native, passed away last Tuesday at his home after a battle against pulmonary fibrosis. He was 86.

Over the years, Mr. Reed served in such a dedicated manner that the local Rotary club’s highest honor is now named in his honor, The Tom Duncan Reed Service Above Self Award.